vegan amaretti cookies

This vegan version of the classic amaretti cookie makes a perfect holiday gift for vegans and non-vegans alike.The non-vegan version of these cookies is made with egg whites. Here, I use aquafaba instead. Aquafaba, or simply known as chickpea water, is the water left behind from cooking chickpeas and is the latest ingredient gaining popularity within the vegan world as an egg replacement. If you don’t want to cook chickpeas, then you may use the water from a can of canned chickpeas but be sure to use a sodium-free version.

Don’t worry, the chickpea flavour will not carry into the cookies. I promise these will taste very much like the classic egg-white version. Even non-vegans will switch over to this recipe… no more needing to find a good use for left-over egg yolks.Vegan Amaretti Cookies

icing sugar for decoration (optional, as you can see in the photos, I chose not to use)

Grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix all the dry ingredients together.

Add chickpea water and liquor |(if using) to the dry mixture and mix until you have a homogeneous mixture (manually using a spoon, no blender required here and no need to whip up the aquafaba beforehand). The final mixture will be slightly sticky (or mostly sticky depending on your tolerance for handling such things).

Roll mixture between palms of hands into balls (3/4 inch or 2 cm). (Yes, it is normal that the mixture will stick to your hands… halfway, you may want to use a spoon to spoon off mixture stuck to your hands or simply just wash your hands and continue. You can also try greasing palms with oil to see if that helps.)

If using icing sugar, roll each ball in icing sugar. Place each ball on the cookie sheet and slightly flatten by pressing down gently with two fingers.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until set at the edges.

Transfer to cooling rack and cool completely before storing in an airtight container for up to one week.

Me too, I’m not vegan but I bake quite often vegan treats and cook vegan meals. At least once a week. But do you now that in my vegan baking I have never tried aquafaba? This is my time to try, plus, i love amaretti cookies, they’re Italian, how couldn’t I? 😉 Beautiful gift idea!

Thank you so much Teresa! When my son was diagnosed with a few food allergies over ten years ago, I found it tough at the beginning but with time, I realized that it’s fairly easy to work with different dietary requirements. This will be my first year giving them out so I do hope they will be well received!

Thank you and hats off to you my vegan friend! Aquafaba must not be new to you? I would love to see more recipes with it… I’m almost always cooking chickpeas and so I almost always have the water readily available.

I’m totally with you – I’m not a vegan (or even a vegetarian), but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like to embrace vegan cooking! While I respect those who are going full-on vegan as a lifestyle, almost anybody can benefit from bringing more plant-based food into their repertoire. I’m a big fan of using aquafaba, and I’ve had some wonderful fun experimenting with it so far, and I think it’s brilliant here. I also really like the rustic/coarse almonds and the texture they create. Great work!

I do have one up already, though it’s actually a meat one! If you search for chicken tsukune on Diversivore you’ll see it! I had to make a good meatball while avoiding bread and eggs (a friend’s allergies). It was a smashing success!